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The Beer & Theology blog is a companion tool for those who attend "Beer & Theology," a gathering in local bars/pubs around Spokane Washington to discuss beer and theology.
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According to Merriam-Webster, tolerance means:
ReplyDelete1: capacity to endure pain or hardship : endurance, fortitude, stamina
2
a: sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own
b: the act of allowing something : toleration
3: the allowable deviation from a standard ; especially : the range of variation permitted in maintaining a specified dimension in machining a piece
4
a
(1): the capacity of the body to endure or become less responsive to a substance (as a drug) or a physiological insult especially with repeated use or exposure (developed a tolerance to painkillers) ; also : the immunological state marked by unresponsiveness to a specific antigen
(2): relative capacity of an organism to grow or thrive when subjected to an unfavorable environmental factor
b: the maximum amount of a pesticide residue that may lawfully remain on or in food
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I think the definition under 4a(2) is interesting: "relative capacity of an organism to grow or thrive when subjected to an unfavorable environmental factor"
The unfavorable environmental factor in context of political or religious views would be the opposing view to ones own. In this sense your view is more tolerant if it can grow or thrive no matter what other unfavorable factors exist. Jesus hit some pretty big unfavorable environmental factors, yet his message, his disciples, his followers, continue on. The Gospel in this sense has a high tolerance or ability to stand the test of time and even our own fallible minds and philosophies.
The Gospel in itself, strangely, teaches the inverse of just being "tolerant" of others. Being a Christ follower or "little Jesus" calls people to genuinely care about other’s views. I think of Paul and his travels. He worked and lived among the people and genuinely cared for their political and religious views. He visited their centers of philosophical thought and listened to their messages. This was a big part of why people listened to him; Paul listened first.
I think sometimes people are afraid to listen to what others have to say out of some fear that what they will hear may change their mind (or challenge their faith). But if you truly have faith, then wouldn't you have the faith to believe your belief has a high tolerance or wouldn’t you want to see that your belief has the ability to stand the test of time, people, or opposing views? Does this bring us back to the blind faith question?
These are just my ramblings...do I even make sense? It may not be where you were heading but somehow I got here.
I agree with Bobby. I think a lot of it comes down to fear. We don't want to expose ourselves to other views and "tolerate" them because we are afraid of what that may require of us. It may make us examine our own beliefs. It may make us have to do the hard work of questioning some of our assumptions.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem that all too often we look at tolerance as an excuse to let someone else talk while we ignore them. It seems sad though, because even if we do not agree with the views of others, there is a lot that we can learn from truly listening and trying to understand other people's views.